Monsoon session: Most productive for Lok Sabha since 2000

The Monsoon session of Parliament, which ended on Friday, was the "most productive" for Lok Sabha since 2000, a think tank has said.

The monsoon session of Parliament was productive for the government as 18 of the 20 bills introduced during the session were passed even as it witnessed clashes between the Opposition and the treasury benches on a range of issues including NRC and Rafale fighter jet deal.

The session, which was a stark contrast with the nearly washed-out second part of the Budget session, saw the first no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government which was defeated by a margin of 195 votes. 

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The Lok Sabha, it said, worked for 110 per cent of the scheduled hours and the Rajya Sabha for 66 per cent.

The no-confidence motion was not taken up during the Budget session amid protests by members from Andhra Pradesh for a special package for the state.

The monsoon session began on July 18 and had 17 sittings. 

The government could not get the triple talaq Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha even though the cabinet on Thursday approved some amendments to the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha. But it gave a significant push to its legislative agenda by getting several pending bills passed and introducing a few others. 

The ruling National Democratic Alliance scored an emphatic victory over a combined opposition in the election to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman even though it is short of a majority in the Upper House. The victory is expected to provide a psychological boost to the BJP-led alliance in an election year as opposition parties try to come together to oust it in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

According to a parliamentary affairs ministry release, the productivity of Lok Sabha was 118 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha was 68 per cent. 

According to PRS Legislative, which tracks work of Parliament, it was the most productive monsoon session for Lok Sabha since 2000. 

(With agency inputs)